Free Essay on Discrimination

Amidst the seamless quilt of people in the food court, he stood out like a stitch gone wrong – not only because of his jarringly bright lime green suit which signified his job as a cleaner, but also because of his obvious Down’s Syndrome – the way his eyes were placed too close together; the way his hands trembled of their own accord as he picked up plates and stacked them in his trolley. Yet, even as people gazed at him with critical, disgusted, and almost austerely cruel eyes, he was polite with what little words he could use. This happened a few days ago, when I was out in a food centre with my friend. It is indeed disappointing to realise the lack of empathy there is in our world, such that even if a disabled person had extremely pleasant mannerisms, “normal” people would still look upon them with fake, hypocritical pity, or worse, disgust. It is clear that such judgemental actions taken against a physically different person are already commonplace, as one often opens the newspaper to read of how AIDS-stricken patients are denied jobs even though they have educational qualifications higher than of a person without any illness or disability. The movie “I Am Sam” also depicted a situation whereby a mentally retarded man is not given the right to raise his child just because her intellect has surpassed his. This is unfair considering how much he loves the child, and love should be enough to ensure the child’s growth.

Even though this is just a movie, movies are often introspective reflections of human nature, which plainly proves how rampant discrimination is in our world today. One has also probably disliked someone else because she is fat, or has indulged in racist jokes. All the above examples serve to emphasise how discrimination, be it against people of another race, people of different facial features, or people of different physical abilities, is very real in our world today. Discrimination is defined as “the practice of treating one particular group in society in an unfair way”, and probably stems from an inborn human intolerance towards something unusual. A possible theory as to why humans cannot tolerate difference is that they are too adverse to change – since they develop a certain mentality after being put in the same kind of environment, and become sheltered in a bubble of naivety. That bubble is broken when they encounter something that does not tally with their idea of what is normal. Then, they get resentful because their secure bubble of naivety has been broken. Therefore, discrimination sets in. It is an especially worrying problem for the world because discrimination may lead to civil wars which would in turn cripple a country’s social and political stability. This is proven in the fact that more harmonious countries such as Singapore and Switzerland develop quickly while divided societies like that of Northern Ireland and Indonesia are still very technologically backdated. Discrimination would also cause an extreme violation of human rights. People would be too busy labelling each other to realise they are not treating each other like fellow human beings. Since discrimination is a result of deeply ingrained prejudice, it is difficult to find an appropriate solution to this problem. Many people have said that complete, flawless harmony in a society is an unattainable ideal. However, there is hope for humanity to achieve this as all over the world, there have been inspirational true stories of ordinary human beings standing up and boldly fighting against discrimination. Nelson Mandela, for example, was valiant in his fight against the unfair political system of apartheid in Africa. Mother Teresa of Calcutta also fought against stereotypes and associated herself with the social outcasts of India. Even though she was prone to the human flaw of discrimination, she chose to fight against it. A mother and a child also share a magnificent and unconditional bond, in the sense that the mother will still love her child if her child goes to jail. As such, discrimination can definitely be fought against. It goes to show that there is that little spark of hope for humanity to be able to keep that discrimination to a minimum. If we are willing, we can clamber out of the abyss of discrimination that has undoubtedly blinded our eyes to the real beauty of the world. Since humans have such a strong will to hate, they will also have a tenacity to love wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Ultimately, humans are creatures who yearn to love and be loved.

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